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The new me — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

In this video, part 4 of 4, Veteran Rogelio "Roger" Rodriguez, Jr. shares a snapshot of his experience with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR), a type of PTSD treatment.

Transcript

- [Rodriguez]
I'm not exactly sure

how many sessions,

but the point that we moved

to a different
traumatic thought

is when I was able to
go into therapy,

talk about the first
traumatic thought,

and not feel stress or
anxiety about it.

Going into the second
traumatic event

was easier than the first
because I knew

what to expect.

After my therapy, I would
leave the office

and I would feel,
each time,

like a little weight
had been lifted

off of my shoulders.

My body just felt
different after therapy.

I didn't feel as stressed.

I didn't feel as worked up.

I didn't feel as tense.

I didn't feel as tight.

I felt just a little
bit more relaxed.

And each time I
went to therapy,

that relaxed feeling would
last longer and longer.

And, finally, I got
to the point

where I did not feel that
electric charge

run through my body at all.

Now when I sit down
and I think about

the traumatic memories,

I can look at them and not
feel as stressed,

or feel anxiety, thinking
about them now

because they have
been processed

and placed into long-term
memory where they belong.

They've been refiled.

After the many months
of therapy

that I had been through,

I could look at myself
in the mirror

and feel proud of the
work and the effort

that I put into therapy

because it paid off now,

where I just feel more
comfortable in my own skin

when I did not before.

It's not the same Roger
it was in 2001.

The old Roger,

(laugh)

he was a hot mess,
that boy.

The new me is more - a
relaxed, more calm

open to listening to
people and their views

and where they are

and not taking everything
to heart as before.

The best way I can put
it is I'm more freer

to life as it comes.

Having been in therapy,
period,

has helped me be in a
better place now.

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